What’s out there that’s positive?

As we think about the messages that are sent to girls about media, we have to remember that they’re not all bad. Lately I’ve seen a lot of one magazine in particular that I really like. It send positive messages about how to respond to peer pressure, gives advice on typical problems girls in middle school and a bit younger typically have, and talks a lot about finding your strengths and being strong. The magazine is calledDiscovery Girls

In a recent article, the magazine presented the idea that what girls see in a model in even their own magazine may not represent reality. They took a reader, a girl in her early teens, and gave her a glamorous make-over, then took her picture. They then set up her real picture side by side with a computer altered picture. There are details, simple enough for a younger girl to understand, but specific, about just how the make-up and hair styling worked along with the computer alterations. It was wonderful!

Every parent would be able to take this short but well done article and sit down with your own daughters to talk through the issue of the distortion of beauty in ways that they can understand. Great job, Discovery Girls! You prove that the media can be used in ways to send our girls positive messages. What a breath of fresh air!